Monday, November 7, 2011

El Hoyo de Sanabe - A Taino Cave

Entering the Cave

We got to visit one of the ancient Taino caves! We were lucky enough to have a tour guide who gave us lots of interesting information about the Taino people’s culture and tradition. The walk to the cave was very hot and long, but it is was worth it to be able to see this fascinating piece of history.

"The Dancer"

The cave that we got to venture into was not one that had been lived in, but was used for religious and healing purposes. Our guide told us that the Taino people used to come to the cave to draw their prayers to the gods. Each picture represents something that someone had come to the cave to pray for, or thank the gods for. Even though our

guide could not tell us the significance of many of the pictures on the walls, it was still a very cool experience to walk through and examine this place that held so much value for the Taino people. It was also really cool to see pictures that were drawn hundreds of years ago!

In addition to the pictures, there were also lots of stalactites and stalagmites in the cave. Some of them were made up of a rock that sparkled when it was hit by the light. There were also lots of critters, like cave spiders and bats! Some of us were a little scared, but we survived.